'How about producing a book of the Festival?' she said.
'Brill idea,' I replied. 'It could include contributions from all the people who were there. It would be great! I'll pitch it to Writers' Workshop.'

'Love the idea!' said WW.
'One catch,' said Jane. 'I won't be able to work on it.'

And so it came about that I was asked to edit the Book of the Festival of Writing York 2012. And what a pleasure that's been! Lucky me was given pretty much of a free rein. I knew from the beginning that I wanted the book to be a gift to the lovely people who make the festival so special. It could showcase their writing and be something they could mention in their CVs and in covering letters to agents. I wanted the book to appeal to everyone who had been there, as a way of bringing back the memories, but also to have a wider readership.

And that's exactly what we've ended up with. The bulk of the book is made up of blogs, articles, poems, writing tips and other insights by some of the many talented delegates at York. There's also a section by some of the professionals who appeared at York 2012 and another featuring interviews with many of the agents who were there.

The e-version is now complete and will be available very soon. It's also hoped that a print version will follow.

I'm really excited about this! When I floated the idea to the audience at York, I began by saying, 'You're all writers, right? Well, we can't guarantee that all of you will eventually land a publishing deal, but we can offer you all the opportunity to have your words appear in a book.'